Year: 2007
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Amazon Turk for Intelligence Analysis
Interesting activities on Amazon Turk, as seen in this email I got from Amazon. It’s easy to image the utility of Amazon Turk in the analysis of satellite imagery of possible terrorist hideouts (“review these images and indicate if there is a truck in the picture”). Adding a prediction market element, you can show photos…
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Yeltsin Dead
AP coverage. Here’s a poem I wrote 13 years ago.Yeltsin appears in the apartment of the poet. Yeltsin’sbeen drinking. He pours another. The poem itself isread in a hoarse whisper, like Roddy McDowellin “Planet of the Apes” The Scolding of Yeltsin Alright:How often does the sun come up over the hill?At what point, exactly, does…
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Good Things Happen When Simple Tools Are Released in the Wild
Here’s a good take on why MySpace works. The same thing applies to all the other emerging stand-alone tools mentioned below. O’Reilly Radar > “remove the web developer and the web gets developed” In short, it seems that while many people thought of “blogging” as a thing that was understood and more or less set,…
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Upon Viewing United 93
Last night I watched the movie United 93. A crushing, horrible, beautiful film about people cooperating and trying to be safe. About people using the communication tools in front of them— seat-back phones, cell phones, cockpit alert systems— best they could. In the course of the 2 hours that it took for the whole thing…
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Mapped Illness Database Fills a CDC Infogap
Here’s a primary example of Open Source Homeland— private citizens collecting public data to fill information gaps in government data using inexpensive technology and social networking methodology: Who is Sick? is a Google Maps mashup of illness symptoms: Runny nose (Stuffy nose/Sneeze/Allergies) Cough (Sore throat) Fever (Chills) Head ache (Dizzy) Muscle ache (Body ache/Tired) Stomach…